Not everything we are taught about hair is wrong, but a lot of it is. Ask anyone who has ever been told that if you pull a hair out and “get the root” that it will not grow back. That is not how that works. There are several different parts of a hair, and most people have never been taught about them. Let’s change that.
What Exactly Is the Hair Follicle?
The hair follicle is the portion of your skin that holds the roots of several hairs. It has three portions and is something like a pore. The infundibulum, isthmus, and inferior are the upper, middle, and lower parts of the tube that goes from the surface of the skin on your scalp into deeper layers and holds your hairs. Combined with a sebaceous gland (oil producing gland) and the arrector pili muscle, the hair follicle creates the structure of the hairs on your head.
Hair follicles can go deep into the skin – almost to the dense connective tissue layer of the scalp. And each follicle can have multiple hairs within it. This can contribute to the illusion of faster hair growth. For example, if you have one hair follicle that is producing hairs and you pull out one hair, another one that sprouts in the same spot in a matter of days is likely another hair that was within that follicle.
What Happens When a Hair Follicle is Pulled Out?
The Cleveland Clinic makes it clear you cannot pull out a hair follicle: “You can’t pull out a hair follicle, as it’s the structure within your skin that holds your hair. If you pull out a strand of hair, you might notice a bulb or round ball (root) attached to the end of the hair strand. The root is surrounded by nerve fibers that let you feel when your hair moves or you touch your hair. Removing this root doesn’t mean your hair won’t grow back, because in most cases, it will.”
However, when you pull a hair out including the root, you may damage the hair follicle. That bulb at the end is the hair root and it will, in most cases for a healthy person, eventually grow back. The follicle is a part of your skin and cannot be pulled out. The American College of Dermatology estimates you have about five million of them over your body.
They can be damaged by disease, accident, some forms of medication (like chemotherapy), and other means… but you will not accidentally pull one out. In general, it is estimated that scalp hair grows about 6” per year and has a growth cycle of about eight years. But each of the hairs on your head may be at a different point in the hair life cycle. So, it often appears that all our hairs are growing at the same time.
Can You Transplant Hair Follicles?
Yes, modern hair transplants involve relocating hair follicles. The two types of surgery most used to transplant hair follicles are follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplant (FUT). Both involve removing hair follicles from another part of the scalp or part of the body and transplanting them to create new hair growth where you are balding.
FUT and FUE procedures use either individual hair follicles (FUE) or a thin strip of skin (FUT) to relocate the hair. Both surgeries focus on taking healthy follicles from one part of you and putting them where the unhealthy follicles are.
Considering hair follicle transplants? Call the experts at Precision Hair Restoration.
The team at Precision Hair Restoration can help you evaluate your need for a hair transplant and identify which method will work best for you. Whether you need non-surgical therapies to help regrow your hair or a transplant to reverse the effects of balding, call us today to get started.
